Cat Art
Cats have fascinated human beings since earliest civilizations. Not only is the cat a beautiful animal, but forever seen as a creature of mystic power and nobility. The absolute independence of cats has intoxicated the human experience of the cats. They have been by a majority of human cultures idealized and captured in an ongoing flow of forms of art for thousands of years. ‘Art is knowledge of craft and having something to say”, wrote E.H. Gombrich, a teacher of art history. In a way art is the expression of magical thinking, of idealization, the containment of deep feelings, cultural beliefs and the gathering into forms the work of the human imagination for the love of beauty, and play.
There is no rulebook about cat art. It exists and is a tireless theme and fascinating subject material drawing into great contemplation both the artist and the viewer.
A few of the books with which to immerse yourself in the pleasures and world that illuminates and describes that interconnectedness between humanity and cats in art are:
 | CATS IN THE LOUVRE, by Fredric Vitoux This beautiful volume is packed with artworks from all of the Louvre’s many departments. Each painting or sculpture is shown in its entirety and in detail, focusing on the feline presence. The artworks are accompanied by a short, illuminating commentary, and introduced by a preface in which the author draws upon his personal reflections on the irresistible cat. Cats in the Louvre provides a delightfully unusual tour through the most visited gallery in the world, and invites the reader to engage in a fresh way with some of the perennially inspiring themes of the works housed there. Art lovers will see the works in a new light, and cat lovers will simply be enchanted. |
 |
THE CATS HISTORY OF WESTERN ART, by Susan Herber A delightful and witty "cat-alog" of feline masterpieces that spoofs 4,000 years of art history. Instantly recognizable to casual museum-goers and anyone who has ever perused Janson's History of Art, the "works" are captioned with deadpan annotations by a real-life art historian. 32 color illustrations.
|
 | Women & Cats: The History of a Love Affair This anthology of quotations, letters, poems, stories, and essay excerpts-delicately and elegantly illustrated with small silhouettes and old tinted photographs in sepia and pink-celebrates the love affair between women and cats. Insightful gems include "Of course, every cat is really the most beautiful woman in the room"; "Women and cats will do as they please and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea"; and "Flirting, falling, and yawning anywhere, / Like women who want no contract." Included are selections from Colette, Mark Twain, Eleanor Glyn, Fanny Kemble, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Amy Lowell, Katherine Mansfield, Dorothy L. Sayers, Rosa Luxemburg, and Hedda Hopper. |
 | The Cat in Art by Stefano Zuffi The Cat in Art is both full of surprises and hauntingly familiar, as cats play and pounce and sleep and purr their way through 170 great art masterpieces from the ancient world to the present. What cats represent to us in life, they bring to art: elegance and grace; domestic tranquility; symbols of sensuality and mischievousness. Here are paintings by Van Eyck, Raphael, Leonardo, Bruegel, Rembrandt, Chardin, Gainsborough, Manet, Renoir, Bonnard, Gauguin, Matisse, Balthus, Picasso, Warhol, and many others. |
